Hazel eyes. This little girl stares at me with hazel eyes that are so beautiful in her tiny five-year old face and she breaks my heart. She looks at me smiling and happy as she waves good bye from the front gate of her house. The front gate is sheets of metal that do little to block the view of her house. Actually house isn’t the word. I don’t even think shack can describe it properly. Maybe hovel or four pieces of wood that form a square and tarps that are supposed to be walls and a roof that looks like it is about to crumble in on her beautiful hair are the only words that can adequately describe the destitution of this home. I watch her walk into the house with her older sister, the two of whom came to the weekly English class CORD holds at the school.
Today we played a game to help the children learn their English numbers called “what time is it.” One student goes to the end of the field and the others begin walking towards her asking what time is it and taking that number of steps. When the children get close to the one at the end of the playground and ask what time is it, she responds “ cina o’clock” which signals that they all must sprint back to the other end. Whoever is caught is the new number person. As I run two small hands grab mine. One is the girl with hazel eyes, the other another 5 year old with dark brown eyes like my own. They shriek with laughter as they pull me along, “run teacher, run.”
They are so happy and carefree As the little girl with dark brown eyes, so dark they are almost black walks home by herself and I want to go with her to protect her from all the bad that can happen when a little girl walks by hers self on the main street. But I don’t even know what I’m talking about. These children have lived through war. They have faced horrors in their five years that I cannot even start to comprehend.
I don’t know why these two little girls have such a big effect on me. Maybe it’s because they seem so beautiful and delicate in a surrounding that can be harsh and dangerous. Maybe it’s because they so willingly give their trust and smiles to a complete stranger when they have no reason to.
– Nitya Ramanathan
